tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Mar 04 12:42:08 1999
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Re: Aspect
- From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: Aspect
- Date: Thu, 4 Mar 1999 15:41:59 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time)
- In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
- Priority: NORMAL
On Thu, 4 Mar 1999 11:35:58 -0800 (PST) [email protected] wrote:
> In a message dated 3/4/1999 8:51:12 AM US Mountain Standard Time,
> [email protected] writes:
>
> <<
> > be' SuchDI' loD, loD leghtaH puq = When the man visits the woman, the boy
> will
> > still be seeing him.
>
> This feels a little out of focus. The point is that the moment
> the man visits the woman is a moment that occurs somewhere
> within a vague duration during which the boy continuously sees
> the man. We don't care when the boy started seeing the man or
> when he will stop. We are not paying attention to that. The
> visit is an event. The seeing is an ongoing process. It doesn't
> have to be perpetual, just ongoing. >>
> ================
>
> I've been hoping that the aspect marker {-taH} does not mean that the
> absolutely must be perpetual, just ongoing. But, how do you KNOW? My answer:
> I would follow the sentence including continuous aspect with one showing an
> ending to the action. Question: By your comparison to ASL, would not the
> action still be ongoing in succeeding sentences with null aspect markers until
> another time stamp be used?
No. Time stamps form a global context for all following
communication. Aspect is a suffix for a specific verb. Aspect is
used to give the state of completion or continuance within the
time setting of the time stamp. That is why the time stamp can
hold for several verbs, as each one is further described by its
aspect marking.
> Of what I know of ASL, the manner of action
> (after all, that is the definition of aspect) obtains until changed.
I don't think you can carry generalizations about ASL very far
in describing Klingon's use of aspect.
> Still, if I say: {qaStaHvIS vagh jajmey, matlhutlhtaH}, would not the Klingon
> inference be that we drank non-stop day and night until all five days had
> passed?
Yep. Within the context of the time stamp, the action is
continuous.
> If this is true, we have not yet settled the problem of "intermittent" action.
Combinations of other suffixes with {-qa'} might be worth
exploring.
> peHruS
charghwI' 'utlh